


Forgotten Demon

by ArasMRinga



Series: Beautiful Demons [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Original Mythology, Other, Spells & Enchantments, Succubi & Incubi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-25 19:40:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18581263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArasMRinga/pseuds/ArasMRinga
Summary: “I’ve never had a name of which mortals called me. But I suppose, you may call me Arezo. I feed off of ‘desire’.”For you see, all the legends are true.





	Forgotten Demon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Briggan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Briggan/gifts).



The sky over Brooklyn rarely excited Magnus anymore. After being around for so long such things couldn’t really excite a person. At least when it came to the wonders of the sky as the sun began to peak over the horizon he knew he could see better. He was much more a night owl himself, staying up until the sunrise glowed across his floor. The warm dull yellow that couldn’t quite decide if it was capable of banishing the long grey shadows of the night. Of course, it was capable of just that task as it forced his friends the Night Children to sliver back to their hideouts. Just another sunrise, another short day to fill until the next. What would he do today? Well, what he did every day of course. Go about his business just as he saw fit. Whether that be checking up on his companions, brewing some enchanted potion or ingredient for later use, or simply deciding to relax with his cats, who was to say what best suited his time but him?  
It was nearly noon when he noticed it. The quiet. The stillness that sat dangerously on the air like a chokehold. Not a single horn or car or footstep could be heard from the city. The city that always bustled around non-stop seemed dead. Getting up from his seat on his balcony he looked out to the street. Even in his neighbourhood, some mundane activity should be visible, but there was nothing. Interesting. Perhaps a stroll around the blocks of Brooklyn was in order today. 

Strangely, the silence he’d noticed wasn’t an isolated incident. Magnus went all over the city and nothing. The mundane world seemed to have been slashed down overnight. The stores all closed, the offices empty, the homes asleep. The eariness of it sent a chill down Magnus’s spine. No city slept like this naturally and although he was not all too interested in the mundane world, he knew the signs of dark magic when he saw it. It had been some time since he’d had to directly speak to the other factions, but whatever was threatening the mundanes might have already gotten to them. Not desiring to pay Camille a visit for nothing and not feeling inclined to worry about the Seelies he began towards the closest werewolf den. What he found did not stifle his nerves in the slightest. Though the pack was awake unlike the mundanes, they seemed in a daze, in another world. They slumped in their seats and didn’t even acknowledge his entrance, which was spectacular by the way. 

“What’s got all the Moon Children in such a spell?” He asked to the air drifting between the dazed beings in a smooth manner. A couple of them shifted their heads, others furrowed their brows in an almost angry way. However, nothing in their body language spoke of hostility, but frustration and tiredness. Finally, the alpha of the pack walked in.

“Finally,” Magnus drawled. “Someone who can-” he was cut off when the man, big and foul as he was, seemed to barrel right through him. When he made contact his eyes snapped up to meet the warlocks. They were clouded and grey, even though the hints of blue could be seen behind them. He huffed at him and continued to stumble around, his soul probably a million miles away. 

After failing to detect what was tormenting the wolves Magnus strutted back through the empty streets. His urgency suddenly picking up as the mystery continued to increase. Whatever was plaguing the city was powerful enough to not only capture the mundanes but also the werewolves, in less than 24 hours no less. No matter what his relationship with the leader of the New York vampire clan, he had to see if this affected them also. 

Suddenly, as he was conjuring his portal to the Hotel DuMort his phone rang. Answering it was one of his warlocks, Maltese. 

“Magnus!” A pained and gruesome groan came through the receiver. “Magnus, you got to-” The line cut out and left the High warlock with the ring of the other’s unfinished warning hanging in his ears. Not wasting another second he changed course and portled to where he expected some of his people to be occupying. The scene everywhere he went was the same, Downworlders under the same spell. Their bodies unhitched from reality and their minds wandering in an unknown plain, unreachable. Becoming increasingly anxious and dismayed he ported to the DuMort. 

The hotel was just as it always was. Usually, the stillness during the day would’ve been on par with the vampires resting. Waiting for the sweetness of the night to enjoy their lives, but now it was disheartening. Nothing could snap anyone out of their states. What was worse, the vampires he found weren’t resting where they would’ve been. An obvious struggle had occurred as he found each new vamp collapsed around the rooms around the hotel. Eventually, he found his old love. She lay eyes wide on one of her lush couches. He’d noticed among them many with fangs reminiscing of blood, Camille was no different. The blackened blood dripped down her pale skin and stained her chin and clothes. He hovered over her unresponsive form and felt a cold hand clutch his heart. The day had begun with such promise and now the air was sour and cruel. Who could’ve done this? What could he do to stop such a monster that could so easily bring so many to their knees?

“Magnus.” Whipping around Magnus took in the familiar face of Raphael. He looked sick, the confidence he normally wore crumbled to dust. Magnus couldn’t imagine he looked much better at this point. 

“My boy.” The relief of seeing someone, anyone, awake and functional was overwhelming. He strode over to Raphael and the two hugged, the boy clearly feeling the same relief he was. “What happened here?” 

“I’m not quite sure.” They stepped apart and Raphael peered around at where some of the others lay. “There was this thing. It appeared a couple of hours ago. We were preparing to ward it off when everyone began to…” He trailed off, looking away.

Collecting himself he continued after a moment. “They each started acting strangely. Like they were possessed.” 

Magnus saw the way Raphael’s jaw tightened and his fist flexed. Just as they did when he was perplexed by things he couldn’t comprehend. 

“Did you get a good look at the thing that attacked you? Did you see what it was?” He pressed.

“Sort of.” The rise of Magnus’ eyebrows compelled Raphael further. “It was definitely a demon, but it was unlike any demon I’ve seen before. Definitely more powerful than anything I’ve seen.” 

Circling around the glossy room Magnus swirled his fingers inquisitively. 

“I’ve never heard of a demon capable of something of this magnitude. At least, not one that could affect all Downworlders at this rate. And let’s not forget that whoever, or whatever, is doing this is leaving everyone alive.” Turning harshly around on the balls of his feet he pointed his stare at the distraught vampire still standing in the middle of the room. “Why are you still awake if the others aren't?” 

“I have no idea. It looked right at me after it took Camille and vanished.” Magnus took this information with a hum. Although it only served to add to his confusion. 

“Come,” He formed a portal for both of them. “Let’s return to my place and you can tell me everything you saw of this creature, perhaps there’s more of them. And maybe we can figure out how to stop them.” 

“Should we contact the Clave?” he asked somberly.

“I don’t know. We’ll see.” 

 

Magnus was throwing books frantically across the room. “Are you positive you didn’t hear anything, no sound that could be connected to any sort of incantation?” 

“I told you. The thing first entered downstairs, you said the others were also taken out there so it must have already gotten to them. By the time it reached us, it said nothing.” 

“Tell me again. What did it look like? Any fixtures that could identify it? What smell lay on the air? What did the atmosphere feel like?” Flipping through another ancient book he hadn’t picked up in years Magnus heard Raphael sigh. 

“It didn’t look like any one thing. It kept shifting forms. One moment it was a dark cloud the colour of ash, the next it was a hideous wolf, then it was a collective amount of mundanes. Nothing I particularly recognized.” Alright scratch that off the list, Magnus thought as he scoured the pages. “And there was nothing on the air. It was like the world was overtaken by that thing. Like all my senses were drawn to it.” 

Magnus became very still. Like a puzzling statue. “Are you saying it was magnetic?”

“I suppose.” Just as he was about to dig through his library to follow a hunch a knock came at the door. Raphael’s eyes almost jumped out of his head. The whole thing had him more rattled than Magnus had feared. Mouthing the word ‘hide’ to his young ward he turned back to the waiting door. Once Raphael was safely hidden from sight he whipped the door open. Standing in the threshold stood an enticing looking woman. Her face was set into a neural expression at first but spread into a beautiful smile when she caught sight of him. He couldn’t help but notice everything beautiful about her. She seemed almost too lovely to be true. Every hair and curve and line appeared perfect and directly out of his fantasies. The most bizarre part was she didn’t always look like a ‘she’ her fixtures seemed to shift back and forth between feminine and masculine. Yet every aspect played to his most basic desires. For a moment just looking at them put Magnus’ mind at ease.  
But for a fraction of a second, as his warlock mark activated, he remembered the dull grey cloud that hovered over everyone and saw the same cloud emanating from the figure in his doorway. Instantly, he waved up a spell to ward off the intrusion. A low chuckle followed his efforts and he saw the being solidify. Into his lost love. A gasp was torn from his lungs and he couldn’t catch his breath. They were dead. Been dead for centuries. Yet there they were as real and certain as the sun that rose on the horizon. It was utterly captivating.

Raphael looked on in horror as Magnus began to stumble backwards just as he’d witnessed those of the clan do. The figure that approached him slowly wasn’t outlined but shimmered in the faint light as if glowing. He watched as Magnus fell onto his bed, his eyes glazed over like all the others. He couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Wait!” The creature pulled back from where it loomed over Magnus to take in Raphael. Once again it seemed to laugh, the cloud of its form shaking with glee. 

It spoke with a voice that was both sweet as liquid sugar and gloomy as a shallow grave. “Ah, it’s you. I should’ve guessed you’d be here.”

“Who are you?” His voice shook with the effort to remain calm. 

With a flick of their wrist, Magnus’ eyes cleared slightly but he remained unmoving on the bed. Then she took solid shape. Dark hair fell long past her shoulders in perfect rings. Ample curves filled out a long black gown with lace running down the arms and legs. Cherry red lips split into an evil smirk, shadowed by the deepest brown eyes Raphael had ever seen. Her skin was the only thing that still seemed to shift because each time you looked too closely it changed its tone. She was gorgeous, anyone could see, but there was a cruelness to her beauty. Like an angered and starved lioness ready to devour you. 

“I’ve never had a name of which mortals called me. My own kind would call me ‘The Cold Witch’. But I suppose for clarity's sake you may call me Arezo.” She said all this while sliding gracefully across the room to lounge on one of Magnus’ sofas. Before Raphael could muster the courage to engage her again she went on. “It means ‘desire’ since that’s what I feed off of. Just like you might drink the blood of others, I drain desires from people through their dreams and their expressions of love.”

Her eyes pierced into him and for some reason he bared his fangs at her, stepping between her and Magnus. The chocolate brown eyes lifted with bemusement and she let her gaze travel around the room.

“Oh hush.” She waved her hand dismissively as he hissed at her. “I will not harm your warlock friend, I’m not a heartless monster.” A glass of red wine appearing between her fingers as she emphasized that last word. 

“You’re a succubus.” He snarled.

“So, you do have a name for my kind. I highly doubt that you fully understand us, however.” Taking a slow sip from her wine the exposed skin of her neck the sudden urge to bite the flesh jumped out to Raphael. He buried it as he always did. Since he’d seen her draw others in and seen them fall asleep at her feet he suspected being drawn to her wasn’t worth the risk.  
“The call of my blood does entice you, interesting. You know, you’re one of the first people I’ve encountered that isn’t affected by my charms.” 

Raphael tried to hold his bearings but her mere presence was seemingly shaking the very ground. He looked back at Magnus. He seemed aware of them but still unable to move a muscle. When he turned back Arezo was close enough that he felt her breath on his cheeks. She stood slightly taller than him and her white teeth gleamed against the bright red of her lips. Instinctively, Raphael moved to step back, but her slender arm snaked behind him and held him in place. Even with his vampire speed and senses and strength, he was caught unaware in her grip. 

“Now listen to me,” her voice slipped lower, dark beside his ear. “I’m here on business but you have me intrigued so I’ll make you a deal. I’ll release everyone from my spell and leave. If you come to my place tonight for some fun.” 

Finally, Arezo allowed him to create some space between them. The proximity raised the hairs on his neck and formed a lump in his throat. When he was able to look Arezo once again in the eye he retorted. “Why? What would you get out of it?” 

She stalked around him, her head bowing to look him over, ready to eat him. 

“Oh, nothing. But I’ve already enjoyed my fill of all the creatures in this city. I’m stuffed, so to speak. I’ll even leave the High Warlock as he is, as a sign of good faith. You have until tonight gorgeous.”

“And what if I refuse?”

“Well, my feasting has left them all in horribly weak states and if they don’t escape my spell soon their bodies won’t recover. Even Mr. Bane over there,” she waved at where Magnus lay. “He might have his strength still, but I can keep him in that state indefinitely.” The sly threat falling from her lips with nary a care in the world. Raphael said nothing, but the slow swallow of his constricting throat said all she needed. In what was as quick as any vampire could manage Arezo was gone. 

Raphael agonized over his dilemma. Which wasn’t really a dilemma at all, there was no question, he would go to her. She’d left her address written in a pile of sand on the doorstep. What was tearing at Raphael was the likelihood Arezo would keep her word. She was like the cunning fox, slick and beautiful, but ready to run away with all the spoils. Since she’d left, Magnus had fallen into the same daze as all the others but Raphael could recognize what she’d mentioned. The strength still there, the colour in his skin showing he still possessed that which he had before she’d arrived. The sun was slowly setting and soon he would be able to walk along the streets with ease. There truly was nothing he could do to prepare himself. The shadows he lived his life in did not bring him peace this night. 

Dressed in his suit, hair in place and mind made up Raphael leaned close over Magnus. “I will save you.” He couldn’t know if Magnus heard him or not but he didn’t linger. The pain of the thought of never seeing Magnus or his clan or Rosa again leading him straight towards Arezo.

Magnus was no longer overtaken with overwhelming images of lost lovers from his past. When Arezo-as she’d said her name was- left the constant stream of them made his mind swim. He almost didn’t remember the things she’d said to Raphael when she’d revealed herself. His consciousness came back later in the night, the pale glow of the moon high in the sky making Magnus aware. Raphael was nowhere in sight and Magnus realized that the fact he could notice that probably meant Raphael had gone to her.  
A succubus. He had only heard that name in quieted whispers. Nothing solid or real, but if this was the truth behind those shadows, Magnus wished it was something left unknown. His muscles ache from being locked in place for so long and the frustration bubbles dangerously within his stomach. _If that creature hurt Raphael._

The sunrise came filtering in under the cracks in the curtains left closed from Raphael’s visit. Suddenly, his arms were free, the iron grip that kept him in place easing off of him. His groans filled the room and for a moment he just let his strained muscles relax into the comforter. Besides the feeling of being run over by a large automobile, he seemed to have maintained his strength. At first, he had the slightest hope that that was the end of it. Arezo was keeping her word and leaving the city be. That was until the front door burst open and the Cold Witch stumbled back into his apartment. Stumbled being the keyword. Where she had been graceful and poised before, she tripped and fell over herself now. Magnus instantly lashed out with a string of power and wrapped it around Arezo’s throat. Choking in the air the devilish brown eyes she truly wore bulged wide. 

“Mag-” Feeble fingers reached out and her own flash of gold magic sparked weakly. “Magnus, wait-”

Despite his better judgement, Magnus lowered the creature back to the ground, the sight of his beloved haunting his eyes. 

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you right here.” 

Arezo’s legs wobbled where she stood on them and her face was horribly pale. “Because,” the confidence from before completely gone. “We need each other.” 

He didn’t grace her with a reply only tightened the hold on her neck. 

“I have yet to reverse my spell on the city. You can’t wake them up without me. And if you don’t help me...” As she stared him down he really took her in for the first time. Assuming the form she’d shown Raphael was her true one there was something seriously wrong with her. The curls that fell from her head were dishevelled, her face besides being paler than royal white sheets was sunken and sickly, and her skin was clammy and covered in sweat. 

“How do I know that you won’t just take my services and leave without releasing the city?” He finally asked after dropping his grip entirely. 

“I suppose you don’t. But my word’s all I can give.” Her words sputtered out as she collapsed to the floor, clutching her abdomen. With a great sigh, he stooped down to take her arm. 

“How can I be of service.” His annoyance seeping through his words as he leads her to lay on the same sofa she’d used before. 

“I need you to call someone. Use this,” A piece of cloth materialized on the air before him and he took it. “the owner is tied to that and will hear you.” Though simple enough, Magnus was not fond of the idea of calling another one of them to his lands. Putting up his wards he invoked the presence attached to the ancient fabric. Almost immediately a tall man in a tailored white suit emerged in a cloud of blue smoke. 

“No! NO! No, no, no, no, no, and no.” The man was violently shaking his head and refusing to look up. “Never. In no circumstances will I help you witch. You, you…” When he finally looked up he saw Magnus standing there and Arezo lying behind him.

“WHAT did you do?!” He stormed toward Arezo and the fire of his rage engulfed Magnus. Arezo only mumbled in response curling in on herself. 

“Arezo has put the entire city under her spell.” Magnus put in for the fuming figure glaring daggers at her.

“Yes I can tell, thank you.” He turned around to address Magnus. “This witch simply reeks of over stimulus. Besides, her stench practically is the air around here.” He sneered and turned back on Arezo. “How could you? If news of this gets to the Shadowhunters. I can’t believe you would be so greedy as to put all of us at risk.”

“It’s- It’s not like that.” Arezo tried to input.

“Oh isn’t it?! We’ve lived in the shadows peacefully and in harmony with this world, undetected, for centuries. Gracious, at this point humanity almost forgets we exist. The Downworlders sure did, but now. Now you’ve gone and fed off an entire area just to get high.”

“No! No, I didn’t. Lalil, it hurts. It hurts Lalil. Please!” The man looked down on Arezo and his face changed from insulted to horrified in two seconds flat. His royal blue eyes swept for the first time from her face down to where she hadn’t stopped clawing at. 

“Impossible.” he breathed, stepping back into Magnus who had stood back from the two. “It’s not possible. You aren’t. You can’t.” he kept stammering.

“Lalil!” A wave of grey energy shot off her with a cry and her back arched in pain. Magnus watched as her stomach stretched before his very eyes. Breathing heavy Arezo tried again. “Lalil, I only did what I thought-”

He cut her off. “Why would you possibly think that this was the way to go about this?” 

“BECAUSE,” She screamed back at him. “None of you would except me. I tried to reach out to you in the past and you’d all turn me away.” Arezo was crying, whether in pain or misery Magnus couldn’t tell. 

“That’s because you blatantly disregarded our rules and customs. Disrespecting the delicate existence we’ve worked so hard to upkeep like you’re doing here.” Arezo just looked back at the handsome face of Lalil as if he’d slapped her.

“What rules? What customs? I have no idea what you’re talking about! I never have!” Lalil’s face fell at this. “When I first woke up there was nothing. I had to figure out everything on my own. All I knew was the raging storm inside me that only yielded when I discovered sexual desires. Ever since it’s been a fight to control my powers and my illusions. Yet, you and the others always treated me like I was some evil thing. Heck! It took me forever to even figure out that we’re even the same.” 

“We’re not the same. Each and every one of us is vastly different from the rest. The only thing that connects us is the curse.”

“Um, if you don’t mind me barging in for a moment.” Magnus stepped up towards the two of them. “But I’m very lost in all of this.” 

Lalil’s eyes creased in sympathy suddenly. He watched the ragged breaths of Arezo and understanding washed over his eyes. 

“Did you really come here trying to accomplish this?” he asked, the hostility from before forgotten. Arezo timidly nodded. Another pained groan overcame her and her stomach grew more. 

“I wish I’d listened sooner.” he knelt down beside her. 

“Why? What’s happening?” Arezo panted as he leaned away. 

“You somehow succeeded.” He stated.

“That’s good! It worked.” Through the pain her face lifted and she laughed contently. Looking down at the lump of her stomach she managed a grin. “I’m going to have a baby. I beat the curse.” 

Lalil shook his head grimly, mouth turned down. Magnus watched as he patted the back of her hand. “No, you didn’t. Our curse isn’t that we can never have children. It’s that when we really want them we die.” 

Both Magnus and Arezo were in shock. Lalil settled in to tell them the dark truth.

“Our kind, succubi and incubi, our history is very complicated. When our original ancestors came from their realm they were nearly unstoppable. Cunning and ruthless, able to manipulate mortals at will and sire as many children as their hearts could desire. Many of those children were the beginnings of the warlocks, but some. Some were the beginning of us. The original demons were banished back to the pit from which they came, but their children were different. Most of us were slaughtered and a few escaped into hiding. It’s unclear who put the curse on us but it was absolute. We were cursed that our primal desires where those of our parents, to feed off the affection of others, but we could not have children. However, a way was made, we could have children one way if that’s what we desired. If we found two beings who would, in free will, give us their affection we could become pregnant. But the pregnancy would eat through us and drain all life from us. That’s why there is always only ever one amount of us since our birth parent passes away closely after our birth.” Lalil waited as another wave of agony washed off of Arezo and finished when she finally looked back to him. “We didn’t know you woke up alone. Normally, we have a short time with our birth parent in which they pass down their wisdom before they die. And then we’d live for a time with the two surrogate parents that helped bare us to learn the intricacies of the mortal world. My own father left me in the hands of a warlock and werewolf, which is why I’m strongest at the full moon and can summon magic like you. That’s why we’re not like one another.” 

Magnus took this all in quite quickly. In all his years it wasn’t that far fetched and for the first time, he noticed the spiked grooves in Lalil’s side. A warlock mark. There was only one thing. 

“Warlock’s can’t have children.” 

Arezo added also, “And I don’t have a warlock mark.”

“Yes. Warlocks can’t produce children normally, but given the crazy biology…” Lalil trailed off the sentence. “We try not to think about it too much. Actually, we don’t have to.” He focussed back on Arezo. “Of course you have a warlock mark. What do you think the bones sticking out of your back are?” 

“A nuisance.” She joked somehow despite how awful she looked. Lalil stepped back.

“You have to remove your spell on this city. If you don’t you put the rest of us in danger.” His solemn tone showed he’d already given up on her. 

“Isn’t there any way I can survive this?” She pleaded as he walked away. His reply was like the spike that nailed the coffin shut for her.

“No, you don’t have a second mate. Without one, the child with keep feeding off the power you’ve consumed. Until there’s nothing left. Killing both of you. I’m truly sorry. Farewell.” And just like that he disappeared in the same cloud he appeared in. Magnus watched the smoke dissipate and felt a sudden ache pound on his chest. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a loud snap and whooshing. Turning around he caught the last of her magic fly across the air. Arezo glanced back to him with a stone cold look. 

The hidden despair that didn’t show on her face came out in her voice as she said, “as promised.” 

Magnus stood there stunned, confused and aghast. Arezo was certainly not what he’d expected and all that he’d just learnt about her and her kind was quite a lot to take in. He managed to come closer to her wincing form as he pondered. She closed her eyes unable to look at him any longer.

“I just wanted to make them proud. If I could increase our numbers they would have to accept me.” Magnus saw, that much of the manipulation he’d experienced by her hand was just as much an illusion to herself as it was to her victims. She wasn’t all strong confidence, but a more raw form of power. The dangerous energy that boiled within the soul and erupted in the most hazardous ways. “I wanted someone to look at me like I mattered.” She was afraid. Afraid, and scared, and sad, and alone.

Magnus couldn’t help but picture himself as a young boy. His powers manifesting and breaking free and having to wrangle it all on his own. He could tell by the way the two of them had interacted that she was younger, maybe even the youngest of all of them. He also remembered what she’d said to Raphael, that their manipulations were not unlike a vampire’s bloodlust. He’d seen many vampire fledgelings discover the treacherous pitfalls of the temptation and become monsters in its trap. Even Raphael might’ve been a lost cause if he hadn’t been there for him. How was Arezo any different? She’d done what her instincts designed her to do and now it left her broken and barely more than a child herself. With a snap of his fingers, a bowl of hot water and a cloth appeared beside his bed. He laid a gentle hand on her sweaty brow and waited for her eyes to find him again. 

“Come now, let’s make you comfortable. No use spending your last moments in anguish.” His words seemed to surprise her with their sweetness, but he felt it suitable. It was the voice he used for the lost and hurting. 

They made their way to the bed and when he tucked her under his sheets she caressed her stomach possessively. Soft words of mourning fell from her in a tongue he hadn’t heard in a very long time. It reminded him of old days spent in the adventure. Instead of moving away Magnus melted in beside her. Arezo was shaking as he placed his hand on her shoulder and dabbed the hot cloth on her brow. Lying beneath him, she flickered her gaze up at him. Tears lingered in her eyes like unsung prayers of grief building in a burning church. Every second he could feel her energy being drained away. 

“What would you have named your child if they were born?” He asked to take her mind away from the pain. 

“Secia.” 

“A gift.” Magnus felt a sorrowful smirk pull on his lips. Even a heart believed to be evil, when turned into a mother could only treasure the real magic of that gift. “And what if it were a boy?” 

She glanced back at him again from where she’d been looking off into space. “We do not have genders as you do. We are merely succubus or incubus.” Anything more she was going to say failed to leave her as a more intense wave of pain rolled from her core and across her. Magnus instantly let his hand fall to grasp hers. It was a sign of faith he didn’t know they had earned. Except he recognized that she did not draw from his power as she could have, but simply used him as an anchor. 

Beside her, he couldn’t help but wonder aloud. “Do you ever regret the things you’ve done?” When she answered she did not look at him.

“Often I wouldn’t. I’d do what I wanted, what felt good and right. But there would be times when I unknowingly would prey off of those who felt a real and deep love for who they thought I was. I wasn’t just the image of the best sexual partner I could be that they were seeing. They’d look at me and see a real person, the one they loved. And I’d feel in those moments that I was truly the evildoer for feeding off such a thing.” That’s when she looked at him. Straight through the outer layers of him and into the deepest parts of his soul. “You did that. You loved. Many times and you felt the type of affection that I could only wish of feeling. There’s no way I could taint that love.” 

Her voice shook and as she confessed, her fingers brushed against the back of his hand. The uncried tears began to flow freely and her chest shook with the force of her quiet sobs. Brushing away the damp strands of hair from her neck and face Magnus held her closer. 

“Shhh, Shhh. It’ll be over soon.” he soothed.

“Magnus, I’m scared.” She took a tight grip on his shirt and muttered. “I thought the first day of my life was unbearable, but I never considered my last.” 

“Arezo.” Magnus let his hands encompass the succubus’s face. She suddenly looked incredibly weak and young as if all the years on that earth were nothing. He had never considered himself what death would feel like, but the consuming pain in her eyes make him dread the impossible. 

The gap between them closed and Magnus only felt the tears streaming past his fingertips as they kissed. Then he didn’t feel anything at all. Behind his eyes, he saw fireworks, multicoloured as Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro. They would burst into constellations of stars that danced and drifted on the surface of a crystal blue sky. The diamond stars turned to raindrops like those that fall on the Copp River. Washing away in waves the water swirled wildflowers in its current. Red tulips, bluebells, sunflowers and lilies all growing before his eyes and swaying in a water-like wind. Lightning struck the fields of flowers to giving way for the blue flames of passion that exploded into sparks of electricity. The fire burned so hot the earth evaporated and he was floating in the air. Clear white clouds began to grow closer and closer until the hues of sunrise were all around him. Brooklyn may not have had magnificent sunrises but he could recognize the reflection of the sun as it set over every corner of the world. Those colours were from his fondest memories, but then there was nothing. 

 

“Magnus! Magnus!” Hands rocked Magnus’s arm back and forth and his eyes opened. His eyelids were heavier than they’d been in ages. When he focused Raphael was standing over him. Sweeping his arms around he felt the familiar texture of his sheets. He noticed unceremoniously that Raphael’s eyes were frantically darting from him to the rest of his bed. He sat up and saw what his fuss was about. To his left, halfway down the bed, the sheets were soaked in blood and other fluids. He jerked backwards and fumbled around searching the apartment on his feet. 

“Where’s Arezo?” The question came out panicked to the vampire boy who followed him at a distance. 

“She wasn’t here when I arrived,” he said. 

“But,” Magnus snapped his attention to Raphael and noted the tension on his shoulders. The way he was holding himself, the weight on his chest. Magnus had never seen the likeness on him before and realized it must have to do with Arezo’s time with him. “she was just here with you.” He finished weakly. 

“Is that really the last thing you remember?” Raphael asked concerned. 

“I remember the figure putting me under her spell and seeing every lover I’ve ever had. Trust me, when you’ve lived as long as I have, that takes a while. I faintly recall her speaking to you, what happened?” Inquiring of Raphael in the ploy of ignorance always worked better than demanding sensitive information. 

“Noth-” clearing his throat Raphael attempted to cover up his feelings on the subject. “Nothing. We just negotiated for her to release the city. Arezo said she’d never bother us again.

 _No issue with that._ The only issue Magnus was having was with her bodies location. 

“I’ve checked the city, everything has seemed to go back to normal.”

“Well, that’s excellent.” Magnus bounced on the opportunity to disguise his need for a drink. 

“Are you okay? Arezo said she wouldn’t hurt you, but I don’t know if she kept her word.” Raphael joined him at the bar. 

“Oh, I’m fine.” Snapping his fingers with a wave the soiled sheets of his bed were replaced to perfection. “Never better.”

Raphael visibly relaxed and continued. “In that case, could you check in on the New York Institute? Nobody else seems to remember anything from the last couple of days and I don’t know what the Shadowhunters are thinking about all this.” 

“Well, if they think the gaps in their days is the result of a demon attack, they might be right.” He swirled his martini in Raphael’s direction and his shoulders sunk. 

“I don’t know.” Before Raphael had to elaborate on what Arezo was to him Magnus saved him the trouble.

“I suppose a check in on the Nephilim couldn’t hurt much could it.” He would do this for the Downworld but in due time. 

Finally, he was on the front steps of the Institute. When the front door opened to him Maryse Lightwood stood in front of him, a child on her hip and a frown on her face.

“What do you want Magnus Bane?” She asked bitterly.

“I am merely here on behalf of some of my warlocks.” On another occasion, he might have flourished his hand on a bow but the bitter woman before him was not one to find that endearing. “Some of them have been complaining to me of strange events in their dreams of late and lapses of memory. I assured them it was probably nothing, but as High Warlock, I had to make sure.”

Maryse huffed and likely was going to tell him off or something of the sort when a small toddler ran up behind her. 

“Momma~” the boy whined while pulling on his mother’s pant leg. The smaller one in her arms stirred at her brother’s loud voice and pouted. Maryse could see a storm brewing and rushed to dismiss him. 

“I’m certain I have no idea what’s wrong with the warlocks. There hasn’t been any demon activity in roughly a week. Alex, that’s enough!” She rounded on her son when he kept pestering her. The lad’s eyes began to well over with tears and he saw Magnus through the gap in the doorframe. Wishing to help him escape his mother’s wrath Magnus flashed his eyes at him. With a gasp, he ran off and Magnus barely had time to hind his mark again before Maryse was on him again. 

“Whatever it is, it isn’t a concern to the Clave, so I’d appreciate it if you’d leave us alone.” In a tight condescending tone, she slammed the door in his face. 

_Well, at least the Nephilim aren’t worried about Arezo._

Magnus returned home and poured himself a scotch. He was feeling novice. The evening came and he sat in disbelief as the sight of the stars made him remember his last encounter with Arezo. What had become of her? But then the light went off in his mind. Of course, she must have drifted as ash back to her ancestors' realm upon her death. Even though the solution to that mystery should have put him at ease he took another long swig from his glass. Picking up his phone he dialled the number of Raphael’s mundane phone.

“Hello, my boy. Yes, I checked everything out and rest assured that the Nephilim are as testy as ever.” He sipped once more. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry. In fact,” Magnus dropped both his voice and his arm to rest on his knee. “I think you and I should just forget the whole thing. Since we’re the only ones who remember Arezo anyhow, there’s no use fretting over someone who will never return.”


End file.
